Bagshot Library staff 'snatched' for rota system

ACTIVISTS fighting to secure the long-term future of Bagshot Library have lambasted a decision by Surrey County Council to remove staff from their fixed posts in favour of a rota system with staff at Camberley Library.

ACTIVISTS fighting to secure the long-term future of Bagshot Library have lambasted a decision by Surrey County Council to remove staff from their fixed posts in favour of a rota system with staff at Camberley Library.

Bagshot’s two permanent members of staff were moved last Friday (February 1) having been given just a week’s notice of the decision.

Robert Balcombe, one of six trustees at the library, said while the pair had not lost their jobs, they had been "snatched away" from the library they have loyally served for a number of years, amid uncertainty over their futures.

A council spokesman, however, stressed discussions had been ongoing for "many months" and said all staff at Bagshot had been offered alternative roles since August 2011.

As Camberley is the main library in the area, its staff will be on a bank system and will be allocated to work in Bagshot for certain shifts.

This latest issue is part of the debate surrounding the council’s ongoing Community Partnered Library (CPL), policy which will see volunteers take on the day-to-day running of 10 libraries across Surrey.

Bagshot is among the first to have had paid staff removed while the county continues to review services.

The Friends of Bagshot Library community group and charity Bagshot Community Library have long advocated a compromise which would see the library retain and pay one permanent member of staff.

Margaret Williams, head of the friends group, said many of the "value added" activities at the library could be run by volunteers, with more than 50 keen individuals waiting in the wings.

“We have always made it clear to Surrey County Council [that] our bid involved retaining cover from at least one of the staff, for which we would fundraise, and supplementing them with volunteers” she said.

“Now we discover they have been summarily ejected without notice or consultation with us – why does the county always have to have its own way over this? It has behaved despicably.”

Mrs Williams added it was, above all, an "immensely disappointing" decision given the fact Bagshot Library had "embodied" the CPL spirit before the idea even came to light.

“Membership is up 28% at Bagshot over the past five years. This is down to us embracing volunteers to host activities like coffee morning or our Rhyme Time sessions,” she added.

Mr Balcombe, who is also a director of the Bagshot Community Library charitable trust – primed to take over the library should a deal be struck with the council – said discussions had stalled over the past 18 months.

“We meet county reps every so often but little has changed,” he said.

“What we’re getting increasingly concerned about is the new financial year in April, which could herald more cuts causing the service to collapse altogether.

“Our proposal is very simple. We pay for a member of staff to run the key services while the volunteers do the rest.

“But we can’t go ahead and start raising money to do this if the county is then going to pull the carpet out from under our feet.”

But the council appeared steadfast in its support for the CPL policy.

“Until the partnership arrangements are in place the library will continue to be fully operated by staff from Camberley Library,” said a spokesman.

“We have been involved for many months in discussions with staff who were working in libraries which were due to become community partnered.

“They have been offered a range of suitable vacancies, and alternative positions for staff at Bagshot have been available to them since August 2011.”

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She has been editorial director of the online and print titles in Surrey and north-east Hampshire since 2007. Marnie previously worked at the BBC as a producer for 5 Live, having moved to national radio from BBC Sussex and Surrey.